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It's Fun to Play the Piano ... Please Pass It On!

I had a little boy that said "mezio forte," it was so funny I didn't want to correct him; I would just make sure and pronounce it correctly and I knew eventually he would catch on. He also pronounced chords exactly how it looks with the soft "ch" as in "choose." It was so cute!

A few years ago I had a 4 year old girl and every time she started playing a piece she would say, "one two ready go" and then begin playing. And she wouldn't she it in the same tempo as she played the piece, it was just totally random. I laughed every time!

Be forewarned, this kid is funny and quite the comic ready to drop a shocking comment on you and any one else given the opportunity. He probably has more "one liners" in his repertoire.

Does this mean that piano teacher's should have "donor cards" nearby with which to put the comic on donor sign-up? (Thinking that he's going to say this again sometime in the future, I think I'd make up a fictious donor card just in case and keep it on hand to surprise him. Actually the subject is a very serious one and I don't mean to suggest it isn't. But, turn-about is fair play sometimes in piano lessonville, I think.)

I can just imagine this becoming the fad quip among young piano students throughout the world if this "I'd rather donate a kidney" gets around, say, on facebook.

I'll think about this every time I ask the student whether he wants to add the 2nd page to the assignment.

Reminds me of something I learned years ago: Never ask a question if you can't stand the answer.

_________________________
"Those who dare to teach must never cease to learn." -- Richard Henry DannFull-time Private Piano Teacher offering Piano Lessons in Olympia, WA. www.mypianoteacher.comCertified by the American College of Musicians; member NGPT, MTNA, WSMTA, OMTA

i like that one Heidiv. It's subtle. which is Australian for "I didn't get it for a few seconds"

_________________________Composers manufacture a product that is universally deemed superfluous—at least until their music enters public consciousness, at which point people begin to say that they could not live without it.Alex Ross.

I know someone mentioned this a few posts back, but I definitely agree we should see about making these stories into some kind of book! These are all really priceless, something that teachers and parents can both appreciate!

_________________________Mordent Music - Offering Piano and Music Theory Lessons in Windsor, Ontario

Back when I was teaching a children's chorus for an outreach opera program during my undergrad, I asked them if they knew what opera was:

"Opera is where you sing and you sound like an old lady."

"Opera is where you sing a beautiful song and then you just don't stop."

There's a lot of beginners in my piano studio right now, and some of their best moments have been:

"How many beats does a treble clef get again?"

"I tried to practice, but I just can't find my piano!"

"Oh! I get it now! That note is an H! Why does it look so much like a C?"

And my most recent favorite:

Mom was holding a holiday teacher present from her son at the end of his lesson, for him to give to me, and something in her subtle hints didn't quite connect. He kept looking at her quizzically, till he saw my name and his own on the tag, and broke into a wide grin, "OH! Thanks, Nate!" He thought it was a surprise for HIM!

That humor sounds familiar. My 7th grade son gets into similar conversations with his father. (I find it funny when he tries to confuse his father...not so funny when he uses his sense of humor on me.)

"Please tell me all this practice will pay off some day". "You're the only one I can tell, but I don't really like to practice". " My mom is staying out of the room now because 'Someone' tells her she should let me practice by myself. (The 'someone' turns out to be mom's therapist). "You are my favorite teacher I've had, and I've had a LOT". While teaching her how to move her whole arm around the keyboard she says "You're REALLY a good teacher!!!". Now, that's the kind of positive feedback I need!

I have a student who, when she was only 7, walked in for her lesson as I was finishing up a little sight-reading for a later lesson, and as she set down her books and came to the piano, said, "Oh! You play?" It was in this kind of tone that you might expect from someone you just met at a dinner party, making small-talk. It just cracked me up.

I also have this story from a few weeks ago. Please forgive the length... it was something my daughter did (she's kind of my student, LOL):

After hearing (on Performance Today) a long note played at the very end of a piece for piano and flute:

I said to my DD, "That was a really long note, wasn't it?"

DD, smiling, said "Yes! That's probly 'cause they used the sostenUTO pedal on the piANo." [emphasis and pronunciation hers] It was actually the flute, but, um, OK. She is just 5.

I said, "Oh, you think that's what it was? I didn't know you knew "sostenuto." Do you know which pedal the sostenuto is on the piano? Is it the right, middle, or left pedal?"

We are learning a piece in D Major for the first time. My student is not ready to read two sharps of key signature yet, so, I suggested that she will use her finger to point all the F and C so that I can use yellow highlighter to highlight it for her to remind her. The piece is Piano Adventure Level 3A Lesson book Song of Joy by Beethoven in key of D major. So, here is what happen....

Student: Wow, there is a lot of sharps, I am sure Mr. Beethoven loves sharps, I wonder if he got sharps for his birthday!

We both laugh, then...

Me: Oh yeah, I am sure he has bucket of sharps at home, and you need sharps eyes to spot the sharps!

Student: And I need to be careful too because they are sharps, I do not want to hurt my fingers!!